The Arlington County Board in northern Virginia voted unanimously on Saturday to spend $2.4 billion over the next 10 years to build schools, improve water and sewer infrastructure, support Metro, and invest in two streetcar lines on Route 1 and along Columbia Pike. County Board members also accelerated plans to build an aquatics and fitness center and a playground at the nine-month-old Long Bridge Park. Democratic Board Chair Mary H. Hynes emphasized the high level of consensus in the inch-thick capital improvement plan (CIP), which took many months and multiple public meetings to create.
In a prepared statement, Hynes said, “This CIP is both a financially sustainable plan that strikes a balance between maintaining our existing infrastructure and making strategic investments” that will help maintain the county’s triple-A bond rating. In the November elections, Arlington voters will be asked to approve $153 million in general obligation bonds to finance some of those projects.
